SKID ROW Officially Recruits Ex-DRAGONFORCE Singer ZP THEART, Prepares To Make New Record

South African-born, British-based singer ZP Theart (DRAGONFORCE, TANK, I AM I) has been officially named the new frontman of SKID ROW.

SKID ROW bassist Rachel Bolan made the lineup announcement during the band's January 14 concert at the Casino in Nova Scotia, Halifax, Canada.

Addressing the crowd before taking over lead vocals for SKID ROW's cover version of the RAMONES classic "Psycho Therapy", Bolan said (see video below): "I wanna make this announcement finally formal. He's been with us for a year, our new lead singer, ZP Theart.

"We're going in the studio soon to make a new record.

"We love this guy. He just lives too far away. We've gotta get him to move to the States, but that's coming down the road."

Said Theart in a statement: "[SKID ROW's] music was the soundtrack to the largest part of my younger years and many a crazy adventure. Now I get the chance to re-live all of them for a hour and a half every night! I am beyond honored to be given this opportunity. Think I'm a bit jealous of my actual self."

Theart's involvement with SKID ROW was exclusively reported by BLABBERMOUTH.NET on December 31, 2015. He stepped into the group following the departure of Tony Harnell, the TNT frontman who joined SKID ROW in April 2015 as the replacement for Johnny Solinger, the band's singer for fifteen years.

SKID ROW guitarist Dave "Snake" Sabo told News-Press.com that Theart has been doing a great job on the road.

"He's come in," the guitarist said, "and he's a really great source of positive energy. He knew all of our songs coming in, and he knew them well. He started singing the crap out of all of them, and we were all very impressed."

Despite the fact that fans have been clamoring for a reunion of SKID ROW's most popular lineup for nearly twenty years, Sabo told The Aquarian Weekly last year that SKID ROW had no intention of reconnecting with vocalist Sebastian Bach. "Happiness, to me, is my spirit and my soul is more important to me than having dollars in my wallet," he explained. "People may [not] believe that and that's okay. Anybody who knows me knows that to be true. I don't think you can place a price on happiness. We've been hit repeatedly over the years with, 'Why don't you do a reunion tour?' And you know what? I understand the question and I get it. I really do, and if I were on the outside, I'd be asking the same question, but no one feels comfortable with that idea."

Bach has publicly expressed his desire to reunite with his former bandmates, telling Loudwire last year: "I don't have any reason why not to do that. I have no animosity towards anybody in SKID ROW, and the fact that we're all, five of us, still alive in this world is a pretty amazing feat. So I would someday definitely like to hear the five guys who made those records play live together again. Yes, I would. 'Cause I'm a fan too." He added: "I'm up for it, if they are."

Sebastian claimed in some recent interviews that his manager had been in talks with SKID ROW's manager about a reunion but that those conversations suddenly stopped. He told Vanyaland in December: "I don't know really why, but it's taken a turn in the other direction, unfortunately. I'm really so busy that it's beyond comprehension. I would love to do that, but if it doesn't happen, I've got a lot of other things on my plate to tackle. So whatever happens, happens, but it's not even up to me whatsoever at all — it has nothing to do with me — it's just me. [Laughs]"